On The Mend
by Kuroi Uma
Summary: He had never expected to survive the wars. He had never expected to live in times of peace. He had not been prepared and now he had to deal with the consequences... Thankfully, they were not all bad. For the Endless Reflection Challenge. One-shot


For the _Endless Reflection Challenge..._

Happy 20th anniversary, GW!

**On The Mend**

**(A.C. 210)**

"Heero Yuy?" the young receptionist was suddenly in front of him. A light blue file in her arms. "The doctor will see you now." She smiled when he met her eye and gestured for him to precede her. He tried not to scowl, lest he should scare the woman, but did not bother smiling at her either. She was just being polite, doing her job, but he hated being waited on and the pain he felt when he put weight on his right leg irritated him further.

Dr. Sally Po was standing at the door with a smile as white as her lab coat. "Heero!" she greeted excitedly, taking the files from the receptionist and motioning him in, all in one swift movement.

"Sally." He graced her with a small smile, focusing on one of the two empty chairs in front of the doctor's desk. His knee really was bothering him…

"I hear it's your birthday today." She locked the door just as he took a seat. He did not really know the exact date of his birth, but Relena had insisted he needed one and – as he did with most things that concerned her – he had given in.

"Yes." He agreed, feeling slightly self-conscious.

"How old is it? 30?" Sally dropped the file on her desk and turned on the flat screen TV behind it.

"30." He confirmed, frowning when one of his most recent x-rays appeared on the screen.

"That's a nice age…" she commented with a wistfulness Heero could not quite comprehend. "Are you throwing a party?"

"Not that I'm aware of." He grimaced, remembering the year Duo had decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. Sally had been there so the reference would not be lost on her.

She chuckled before taking a step back to survey the image. "Isn't this the same leg you broke that time you and Duo jumped off the window?"

"Yes, it _is _the same leg." Heero could not help the smirk. He remembered setting the bone back himself… At the time, the pain had prevented him from enjoying the look of horror on Duo's face, but now – as he pictured it – he could not help but feel a sick sense of pride. Relena always said he had a wicked sense of humour.

Sally's frown deepened, and he prepared himself for the worst. "Your knee looks really bad, Heero… I won't lie to you. Do you see the cartilage there? It's completely worn… In fact, there's so little left of it your femur's been rubbing against your tibia." She pointed at the mentioned defect. "That's what's causing you pain."

"Like a hinge without proper lubrication." He offered the explanation to let her know he understood.

"Thank God for mobile suits." She smiled, taking the seat in front of him.

"What are the options?" Heero asked, too tired to beat around the bush.

"Well…" Sally skimmed through the papers on her desk. "I'd say our best shot right now would be to have that knee replaced… It's a complex surgery with a relatively long recovery time, but in the right hands there's a good chance you'll be able to recover complete mobility and – knowing you – your recovery should take half the usual time."

"And what do you believe was the cause?"

"It's hard to point out exactly… The primary lesion may have happened still during your childhood and it may either have been wrongly treated or not treated at all… If that was the case, your training probably aggravated it and then the wars… Well… It clearly turned into a chronic arthritis which then evolved into arthrosis and, once it reaches that stage, there's nothing we can do but retard the degenerative process…"

"Retarding its advancement can only do so much, I suppose?" Sally nodded with a sad frown. He had not really treated the injury, but abused the knee instead, aggravating it. At the time, he had not thought he would survive – he had not meant to – so the possibility of having to suffer through the consequences of his abuses had not even crossed his mind. Suddenly, Heero missed being 15. Back then he had had a large fan of choices, now there were only a few. "Let's schedule the surgery. There's no reason to discuss this any further."

"I'll get the best orthopaedic surgeon of the ESUN to work on your case, Heero. I promise you that." She leaned forward, meeting his gaze with serious eyes.

"Thank you, Sally." He said with a nod and pushed himself to his feet. There was nothing left to say.

XXX

By the time he reached his office, at the end of the corridor, he was tense from hiding the pain and could barely wait to get off his feet. The moment he took hold of the doorknob though, his tension multiplied tenfold. Survival instincts that had been honed for decades buzzed in his ears... There was someone in his office.

Pistol in his right hand, he swiftly opened the door with his left to find Relena sitting at his desk behind a pink cardboard box. He released a long breath, closing the door behind him. She made no comment about the gun, for which he was grateful. "Surprise." She said with a modest smile that she reserved especially for him. "It's just me." She added for good measure. "And the cake."

The sight of her was like a balm to his nerves, her smile and sweet sense of humour a welcoming comfort. "Hn." He said because there were really no words to describe how relieved he felt.

Her smile widened. She knew him way too well to be upset by his unresponsiveness or what would seem like it to someone who did not know him. "How did it go? What did Sally say?"

He collapsed onto the nearest seat, mentally thanking Une for insisting he choose the more comfortable chairs. Heero had been set on saving the money, the comfort of his rare visitors not ranking very high on his list of priorities. "Let's not talk about that just yet."

"Okay." Relena said simply, pulling the lid off the box to reveal a small strawberry cake with lots of small red candles spread all over its white top. He did not bother counting them, he already knew the number. "Happy birthday!" she said smiling brightly.

Heero chuckled, amused at her antics. The importance of birthdays was still lost on him… He feared it always would be, but he could suffer through it if it meant making that one woman happy. "Thank you."

"How does it feel? To be 30?"

"Tiring…and crippling." He frowned, mentally rebuking himself for letting that self-deprecating comment slip. There was just something about her that made him open up, made him lower his defences without realising.

Relena's smile never wavered. It was as if she had been expecting that comment. "You need vacations." She informed him. It was practically a mantra at that point, but she never tired of repeating it. Just as he never tired of ignoring it. "As for your leg… What did Sally say?"

He sighed. Now, there would be no escaping her. "I need a knee replacement surgery and there's a chance I'll recover complete mobility, though I am quite sure Sally was trying to be more optimistic than she ought to."

"It's going to be fine, Heero." She was still smiling as she pulled a match box out of thin air to light up the candles. "You have been through so much and yet… Do you really believe your recovery will be anything less than a hundred percent?" her conviction touched him so he allowed himself a small smile. It was a good thing he believed in her too. She had believed in him in times of war, when hope was gone and all seemed lost, so he would believe in her in times of peace. He did not have an answer to that though, thankfully she did not really seem to be expecting one. "Make a wish." She told him.

His knee was the first thing that came to mind, but Relena was so sure it would work out alright… In fact, so was Sally. Heero made up his mind and blew the candles without a second thought. "I've already got more than I could ever ask for."

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I wanted to write something simple and realistic and heartfelt... I also wanted it to be longer, but this just seemed like the place to end it. Sorry, if I got carried away on the medical stuff. It's just that I had an excellent teacher who got me really interested in arthrosis. Plus I have an arthritic knee myself, so... Yeah. XD


End file.
